Above and beyond for volunteers who entered the 2020 BCA Biggies Awards
Entries in the 2020 Biggies Awards were of an exceptional quality. These individuals and companies — which did not make the finals lists — deserve recognition.
From riding with firefighters through deadly red zones to restore connectivity during last summer’s bushfires to providing free wi-fi in evacuation centres, Telstra teams not only kept Australians connected; they also fostered a spirit of closeness.
During the extraordinary disruption caused by the bushfires and COVID-19, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn says the company was challenged to adapt and “to find new ways of supporting our customers, our people and the country in a time of need’’.
“I am very proud of the way our team responded,’’ he says.
Penn’s words reflect a constant theme running through the entries in the Biggies awards, with chief executives expressing pride in the efforts of their employees for going that extra mile.
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn puts it this way: “Being there when we’re needed most is an essential part of what we stand for. This year I’ve been immensely proud of what CommBank has been doing to help.
“Through the challenges 2020 has presented, our people have gone above and beyond to support our customers and the wider community.’’
The Biggies were launched to recognise the significant contribution that businesses and their people make to the broader Australian community. One of the judges, Lorena Granados, who lost her business during the bushfires, says some of the entries made her cry because they were “really close to the heart’’.
“I think they should all be recognised for what they’ve done,” she says. “There’s no winner in my eyes, they’re all winners.”
Companies that didn’t make the finals but inspired the judges include Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, Coca-Cola Amatil and Qantas as well as individual employees Hugo Crystal from Bupa and Mark Bernhardt from Origin Energy.
Telstra’s efforts to support the community during the dark days of the bushfires included wiping the bills of about 10,000 volunteer firefighters and other essential workers and providing them with free connectivity for the months they were on the frontline.
As Telstra says in its Biggies nomination: “These heroes were fighting fires, supporting their communities and protecting what remained, many for days and weeks on end.
“Doing right by them given all the right they were doing for our nation was one way we showed our appreciation.’’
COVID-19 came quickly on the heels of the bushfires and Telstra found itself at the centre of Australia’s huge acceleration in digitisation through telehealth, online learning, remote working and e-commerce.
The company fast-tracked the provision of unlimited data allowances on fixed broadband, gave extra mobile data for Telstra’s consumer and small business customers, at no cost, and provided ongoing discounts to those on JobSeeker and other concession schemes.
Importantly, Telstra also brought forward $500m of capital expenditure slated for the second half of the 2021 financial year into the 2020 calendar year, providing the economy — and the nation — with much needed investment. They also froze job cuts for 12 months.
At CommBank, emergency responses are embedded in its day-to-day operations. But like everyone around the country, the bank soon realised there was nothing typical about last summer’s devastating bushfires.
On top of emergency support operations and attracting record donations for the Australian Red Cross from customers and employers, CommBank recognised that to recover, the community needed more.
From early January to June 30, 2020, CommBank developed and rolled out the CommBank Bushfire Recovery Grants program and the Baggy Green tour. A total of 213 CommBank Bushfire Recovery Grants valued between $5000 and $50,000 were made directly to a wide range of community organisations based in bushfire affected areas. These included grants to revive community gardens, fund the restoration of koala habitats, fund school, youth and sporting facilities, and support charitable food outlets.
As CommBank says in its nomination: “We understood that to have significant impact, our initiative had to support both physical and financial recovery and help repair the deeper, less immediately visible damage to our community psyche, including to rebuild a sense of unity, hope and purpose.’’
‘Despite these extraordinary circumstances, our people have shown incredible resilience and unfettered commitment to answering the call for help’
— Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO
CommBank also wanted to give as many Australians as possible the chance to contribute to the relief effort beyond the conventional donations box. That opportunity arose when the bank purchased former cricketing legend Shane Warne’s baggy green cap at a charity auction.
Instead of sending it to a boardroom display case, they took the cap on the road in a fundraising tour which enabled Australians to unite behind a symbol of national solidarity and raised an additional $1m for the Australian Red Cross.
CommBank says in its nomination: “It’s no secret that the financial services sector, including CommBank, has been the subject of intensive scrutiny in recent years. We acknowledge openly that the sector has, at times, been found wanting.
“The initiative outlined here is one of many that we hope signals some of the lessons learned and our commitment to being a better bank.”
At Coca-Cola Amatil, last year’s challenges reminded the company about the power of people and community and importance of compassion in the face of adversity. Alison Watkins, CCA’s group managing director, says: “Without doubt, communities and government organisations did an outstanding job supporting one another during the bushfire crisis.”
In CCA’s case, she says: “We were able to provide immediate help to our customers and communities with our teams going above and beyond their day job to provide practical support on the ground.
“I was very proud of all our teams in Australia, their efforts and generosity, and how Coca-Cola Amatil truly came together to help those affected by the devastation of the fires during our busiest time of the year.’’
CCA’s Victorian team worked around the clock to collect cases of water and fruit boxes to transport to the East Sale RAAF base. From there, they were flown on a Black Hawk helicopter to Mallacoota.
During the bushfires, CCA, together with its partner Coca-Cola South Pacific, donated more than 280,000 bottles of Mount Franklin water and Powerade to assist bushfire and emergency crews, as well as evacuated Australians in disaster recovery centres across the country.
As part of this donation, 10,400 cases were provided to the company’s long-term partner, Foodbank Australia, together with supplies to the Australian Defence Force, Australian navy and Air Ambulance services who were also supporting evacuation operations across the country.
For Qantas, as chief executive Alan Joyce points out, this period has been the most difficult year in the national carrier’s 100-year history.
“Despite these extraordinary circumstances, our people have shown incredible resilience and unfettered commitment to answering the call for help,’’ Joyce says.
During the bushfires, Qantas stepped up to assist the nation’s frontline responders as well as help the community recover.
This included operating more than 50 charter flights carrying firefighters and equipment free of charge and transporting 500,000 N95 respiratory masks from California, free of charge. Like most companies, Qantas donated directly to bushfire relief and recovery, launched a customer donation drive and provided paid leave to staff who were volunteer firefighters or army reservists.
Early last year as COVID-19 grounded international flights, Qantas operated the first emergency flight from the centre of the outbreak, Wuhan, carrying 267 passengers.
Qantas also operated an additional service out of Wuhan and an emergency evacuation flight out of Tokyo to bring Australians, who were on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, safely home.
Using Boeing 747 aircraft, the flights were crewed by volunteer Qantas cabin crew and pilots, with no shortage of Qantas team members putting their hand up to operate the missions.
With the risks unknown, this was a testament to the spirit of Qantas.
Extensive planning was undertaken. The missions required hours of collaboration around specific new on-board procedures, logistics of operating into a foreign port that is not part of the airline’s scheduled network and ground handling requirements.
Every measure was taken to keep passengers and crew safe, including health checks before boarding, providing hand sanitiser, hourly changing of masks in-flight and a specially designed in-flight service.
The Biggies not only recognise the efforts of companies, they also exist to celebrate individual excellence and the people who make organisations a success, people such as Hugo Crystal at Bupa.
When COVID-19 restrictions locked down Bupa Aged Care Ballarat in March, Crystal, a physiotherapy assistant, knew the residents would be frustrated by the loss of their normal activities so he “decided to do something about it”.
Crystal created hand-drawn character portraits of all 144 residents to help them feel loved, listened to and valued. He worked to keep spirits high and happy as Bupa’s team focused on the health, safety and wellbeing of the people in their care. An amateur illustrator, he started doodling about five years ago. During COVID, he realised his drawings would be a perfect opportunity to socially interact with the residents. Crystal arrived two hours before his shift to talk with residents and start the initial sketches and continued working on them when he got home.
“When a family member of a resident saw the illustration I did of them, they burst into tears … they were tears of happiness and emotion,” he says.
Crystal spent his childhood in and out of foster homes and had no concept of family until he started working at the aged care home. He now counts all 144 residents as his grandparents.
Ballarat Mayor Ben Taylor says Crystal had “no doubt brought a smile to many people’’ and Bupa chief executive Hisham El-Ansary says through the drawings, Crystal had helped residents “feel loved, listened to and valued”.
Another employee dedicated to giving back to the community is Origin Energy’s Mark Bernhardt, a senior HSE (health, safety and environment) business partner with Origin’s LPG business at Minto.
‘You never know what opportunity will come your way but it’s really important to take hold of it when it’s there’
— Mark Bernhardt, senior HSE business partner with Origin Energy
Like hundreds of Origin employees, Bernhardt takes part in the company’s volunteering program through the Origin Energy Foundation.
Founded in 2010, the foundation supports education programs that help break the cycle of disadvantage and empower young Australians to reach their potential — a focus chosen by Origin’s employees.
In that time, the foundation has helped more than 62,000 Australian students achieve in education and provided more than $27m to support community organisations through grants, volunteering and workplace giving programs.
A key element of the foundation’s work is the employee volunteering program, Give Time.
It was through one of these community partners, Beacon Foundation and it’s My Road program, that Bernhardt felt he could make the most difference.
The program matches volunteer mentors with disadvantaged students to teach them about potential career paths and the world of work.
Having grown up in a single parent household, Bernhardt understood what his mentees might be feeling.
He credits a few lucky breaks and the generosity of mentors he has had along the way with getting to where he is now.
“If you had told me when I left school in Year 10 that I’d have a degree under my belt and be in a senior leadership position, I would never have believed you,” Bernhardt says.
“And that’s one of the messages that I try to communicate to the kids that I mentor; you never know what opportunity will come your way but it’s really important to take hold of it when it’s there.
“It’s a really good feeling to know that you are potentially making a difference to a kid who may otherwise not have the opportunity to speak to someone about a future career.”
According to Lisa Matthews, Beacon’s online delivery manager, Bernhardt has never let them down.
“At times, Mark has volunteered to mentor in multiple My Road sessions back-to-back, knowing that we are in need,” she says. “This represents an extraordinary time commitment in a working day that his employer generously supports.”
Origin Energy chief executive Frank Calabria says: “Mark lives the Origin values and is an inspiration not only to those he mentors, but also to his colleagues.”